How Healthy Are You, Canada?

TORONTO, Nov. 8, 2012 /CNW/ - High earning women may be feeling some pain, eating out could harm your health, and Vancouverites have fewer health complaints. These findings are from the 2012 How Healthy Are You Survey released November 8th.

Conducted by the Executive Health Centre for Maclean's, the survey results are based on responses from 5,000 Maclean's readers who answered 100 questions about 100 symptoms. What do the findings tell us? Dr. Elaine Chin, the survey mastermind, is the one to go to for answers. Contact Elaine.

Survey Highlights:

Women who make high incomes (>$150K) are less healthy than women who earn less. Stress related issues such as weight gain due to food cravings, musculoskeletal and menopausal issues top the symptom list. The average age of the high earners is 47 - the time when perimenopausal symptoms, such as irregular menstrual cycles and insomnia (due to hot flashes and sweats), kick in. "Stubborn symptoms can affect performance but it doesn't have to be this way," says Dr. Chin. "Rather, women can prevent health problems before their peak earning years so they can crash through that glass ceiling in peak health."

Eating out every day can harm you. The more you eat out, the more unhealthy symptoms show up. Canadians are getting fatter and this may be due to moving less and eating out more. Generally, 'grab and go' foods have more calories, fat and salt - all contributing to poor diets and increasing the risk for diabetes. Every 20 minutes a Canadian is diagnosed as being diabetic. Share the awareness: World Diabetes Day is November 14th.

Canadians who live in Vancouver and Montreal were the healthiest surveyed. Canadians living in Regina and Edmonton reported the most health complaints. Toronto urbanites were in the middle range of symptoms reported (in fifth place behind Vancouver, Montreal, Winnipeg and Calgary).

Urbanites may have it over suburbanites when it comes to less health problems. People who answered the survey from suburban Toronto displayed more health complaints than their urban counterparts. Body Mass Index measurements also showed suburbanites may carry more weight than those living in the city.

To make sense of it all, ask Dr. Elaine Chin. Her conclusions from this year's survey are ones your audience needs to hear.

About the Executive Health Centre and Dr. Elaine Chin The Executive Health Centre is a leading preventative health clinic with a goal to help everyone prevent disease and experience peak health. Elaine Chin, MD, MBA, is a noted personalized health expert and south after media contributor (e.g., Maclean's, Canadian Business, Chatelaine, and Citytv). The How Healthy Are You survey series is conducted by the Executive Health Centre using the Symptom Profiler developed by Dr. Chin. More than 40,000 people have responded over the past five surveys. This year's results will be featured in the November 8th Maclean's.